DEAN SPANOS IS THE ONE TO HOLD ACCOUNTABLE

Now that the termination of A.J. Smith and Norv Turner is official, Spanos will be hiring his fourth general manager and fifth head coach. And whether or not every one he has previously hired was a mistake, these upcoming choices better not be.

Norv Turner’s .583 winning percentage in the regular season and playoffs qualifies him as the most successful coach in Chargers history. The 95 victories and five division titles in Smith’s 10 seasons arguably represent the most successful decade in Chargers history.

Those two tidbits speak as much to the lack of success in the franchise’s other four-plus decades of existence as it does to the accomplishments of Turner and Smith.

It’s up to Spanos to ensure this wasn’t change for change’s sake.

No matter whom he relies on for counsel, this is on him. Always has been. And now he’s running out of time.

His son, John, currently the director of college scouting, will within the next two to three years assume control of football operations, as his older brother, A.G., has already done on the team’s business side.

“I have a guy down the hall,” Spanos said as he nodded over his shoulder toward John’s office, “it’s going to be his challenge at some point in time.”

Spanos did not protest when I proclaimed Monday that an era has ended. And I wasn’t talking about the tenures of Turner or Smith.

Moreover, a roster rife with talent is tattered. Hope is teetering on desperation.

All the excitement that had this town in a blue and gold lather for the better part of a decade was fruitless. The pursuit of excellence has fizzled into a puddle of mediocrity.

“I can’t ignore that,” Spanos said. “It’s disappointing.”

Spanos has been in charge of the Chargers for 18 years. The team went to the Super Bowl in his first year after taking over for his father, Alex, who bought the franchise 10 years before that.

The Chargers have been within a game of the Super Bowl just once and been to the playoffs just six times since.

For perspective, there are 13 other teams that have not been to a Super Bowl since 1994 and 21 other teams that haven’t won a Super Bowl in that span.

And while Spanos’ decisions in part led to the Chargers being one of the two worst teams in the NFL from 1996-2003, he also hired John Butler and then Smith, whose combined personnel moves shaped a team that from ’04-09 won more games than all but five other teams.

“I take 100 percent responsibility for the last 18 years,” Spanos said Monday.

I believe Spanos’ greatest strength is his biggest weaknesses.

Some call his problem fear. While such an assessment is not entirely folly, it is ultimately false.

I see it as Spanos being loyal to a fault — first keeping Bobby Beathard too long because he couldn’t discount the GM’s role in building a Super Bowl roster and then sticking with Smith longer than he might have in deference to Smith’s role in bringing the franchise out of its darkest period.